Pittsburgh’s Riverview Park Becomes A National Certified Arboretum

Pittsburgh’s Riverview Park — tucked between Perrysville Avenue, Woods Run, and Marshall Avenue on the North Side — is a green oasis in the city for hikers, joggers, cyclists, and picnickers. Lately, kids have even been able to camp overnight in the park through the Outdoor Inclusion Coalition, and residents are excited to get a new pedestrian bridge along Davis Avenue in the fall.

Now, just in time for Arbor Day, the 259-acre park’s wooded trails and rolling hills received national recognition as a certified arboretum by the ArbNET Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum.

What does this mean? An arboretum is a botanical garden specializing in trees or woody plants, and Riverview Park has “maintained nationally recognized standards of professional practices important for arboreta and botanic gardens,” according to the city.

Riverview Park is the third city-owned park to get this certification. Mellon Park became the city’s first designated Arboretum in 2021; Westinghouse Park in Point Breeze was next.